Back in August 2015, Facebook added a new feature to their social media platform: the ability to broadcast live video streams. It’s now taken off and we’re seeing all sorts of brands getting involved.

But just how effective is live video?

In a mission to find out, I swapped my summer sandals for wellies and joined 4,500 young people in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. We came together for a little known event called OxonJam 2017 – three days of activities organised by Oxfordshire Scouts. As part of the voluntary social media team, I helped to broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies live on Facebook.

It is without doubt that these live streams contributed to the huge success we saw online across all of our social media platforms and our website. As we were broadcasting live, Facebook’s recently updated algorithm gave us more prominence over other regularly scheduled videos and this boosted our reach to 250,000 users. After the high quality, multi-camera broadcasts, our Facebook page jumped from 600 likes to over 1,000 which significantly raised our brand awareness.

It definitely helped that we had access to a large variety of camera equipment capturing all angles of the ceremonies (some £20,000 worth), our own broadcasting trailer to control what footage was being streamed and a 15 strong media team.

But of course, shooting live video doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. With some of the latest mobile phones being able to record 4K at 120 frames per second, it is easy to broadcast decent live video on your own device without the need of specialised equipment.

As people are spending on average three times as much time watching Facebook Live video than they spend watching other video content*, it is clear that there is a space for this sort of marketing content.

Whether you choose to invest in hiring a professional camera team or want to give it a go at your own speed, Facebook Live is without doubt a platform worth talking about it. There are plenty of opportunities for live streaming in the retail and foodservice industries – from trade shows to award ceremonies and everything in between.

Jellybean Creative is a leading foodservice agency. We help top brands with foodservice pr, foodservice marketing, digital and design. If you feel we could help you with your marcomms, strategy, public relations, creative or digital then drop us a line today.